Marina and the Diamonds Played a Secret Show in Dallas

Marina and the Diamonds played a free surprise show Thursday night for a few hundred Dallas “VIPs” at the Bomb Factory. Zhora, with a little help from local favorites -topic and Ronnie Heart, turned in a fun opening performance to set the mood before the Welsh pop singer took the stage.

The Bomb Factory promoted the event online as a “VIP Private Party” featuring a “secret artist,” although the secret was pretty much out by the time Marina and co. played their first note, and VIP access wasn’t particularly hard to come by — I found four spare tickets on the counter at the 7-Eleven in Deep Ellum just before the show.

There were definitely a few Marina diehards in the audience, so it wasn’t a surprise show for everyone. I’m sort of a neutral party when it comes to her brand of pop, but it was a neat little concert from an artist who played the Granada on her last trip through town, but has since skyrocketed in popularity in many sectors of the pop music universe. Marina herself — rocking some glittering headgear emblazoned with the word “Froot,” the inscrutable name of her new album — had a blast as the star of her own surprise party, and the band was tight and put-together.